


Patchwork Quilt: Reconstructing Voltron Season 7 Episodes 9-11

by The_Violet_Howler



Series: FreeVLDS8 Analysis [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Analysis, Essays, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Meta, Nonfiction, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Speculation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:47:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22019623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Violet_Howler/pseuds/The_Violet_Howler
Summary: Re-posted from tumblr for archival purposes.A continuation of the ideas laid out in my "Cutting and Padding" meta analyzing the changes to Season 7 of Voltron: Legendary Defender. This analysis breaks down in greater detail how the changes to the Earth episodes not only drag out the second half of the season but also wreak havoc on the episodes' continuity.
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Series: FreeVLDS8 Analysis [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1412140
Kudos: 4





	Patchwork Quilt: Reconstructing Voltron Season 7 Episodes 9-11

It’s already known that the 7th season of Voltron: Legendary Defender was edited late in production due to executive meddling. The EPs already confirmed this was the entire reason The Feud even exists. They also mentioned in an interview with AfterBuzz TV that some episodes were moved out of order as a result of the additional content. **  
**

In my meta “[Cutting and Padding](https://violethowler.tumblr.com/post/186041883488/cutting-and-padding-an-analysis-of-season-7s)” I mentioned how _Trial by Fire_ did not exist prior to the editing and that the inclusion of content that gave the MFE pilots more screen time threw off the pacing of the season’s Earth Arc. After some further thought, I thought it would be a good time to go into more detail and outline how the parts of S7 that were added in during the editing can be distinguished by the continuity errors they create within the entire set of episodes. 

Without further ado, let’s begin. 

### Reconstructing Know Your Enemy

#### Summary of July 2018 Episode

The Paladins crash land on Earth in a stolen Galra starfighter, and scout the city near Galaxy Garrison. Due to their ignorance of the occupation’s patrol patterns, they are quickly overwhelmed and pinned down by Sentries before they are rescued by the arrival of MFE Pilots Griffin and Rizavi. 

The Paladins are then taken back to the Garrison where Lance and Pidge are reunited with their families. Seeing Lance being teased by his niece and nephew reminds Hunk of spending time with his own niece and nephew, and he is distressed to learn that his family are being held prisoner behind enemy lines. Iverson apologises to Shiro for having him strapped to a table and makes amends with Keith over the latter’s departure from the Garrison. Shiro grieves over Adam’s name on the memorial wall before the team’s debriefing. 

Team Voltron is brought up to speed on the state of Earth’s occupation and the Garrison’s resources. Sanda suggests turning over the lions to Sendak and when the Paladins insist they have a fighting chance she counters with the fact that they don’t have any knowledge of the enemy. Pidge and Allura realize that since Sam copied all of the data from the Castle of Lions, they have access to Sendak’s memories. 

While they get started on finding a way to access them, Keith consoles Hunk over the latter’s worry over his family, telling Hunk how brave he is for going on in spite of his fears. Hunk and Keith sneak out with the aid of Griffin and Veronica to look for Hunk’s parents. Allura and the Holts begin interrogating Sendak’s memories, learning that when a planet refuses to give up, it is annihilated. When Sendak’s AI reveals this was how Altea was destroyed, it becomes too much for Allura, who leaves the room. 

Veronica connects with her resistance contacts from The Last Stand: Part 2, who report on what they’ve managed to find on where Hunk’s family and the other prisoners are located. With a rescue impossible for now, Hunk asks if he can at least get a visual of where his parents are. 

While cooling down from interrogating Sendak’s memories, Allura offers Shiro a new prosthetic arm to replace the one he lost during his mind-controlled fight with Keith in The Black Paladins. 

As the prisoners are being escorted from the work camps to the detention facilities, Hunk spies his parents among the crow and vows to save them. 

#### Breaking Down the Edits

##### Continuity Error 1:

Hunk’s flashback of his niece and nephew depicts Hunk in his S1 outfit prior to his enrollment at the Garrison, inconsistent with the Young Hunk designs used in S7E1 and later in this episode. 

##### Continuity Error 2:

Veronica says in the mission briefing that all resistance outside the Garrison has been wiped out. Despite this, we see her resistance contacts from _The Last Stand: Part 2_ helping to lead her, Griffin, and Keith to where Hunk’s parents are being detained. 

_“Small underground pockets of resistance have attempted to do so with varying degrees of success. Eventually all were discovered and systematically wiped out.”_

#### Corrections

The sequence where Keith and Hunk sneak out to find Hunk’s family would be removed in order to resolve the continuity error of the resistance still being around. Without this sequence, the Significant Looks Griffin and Keith give each other throughout this episode have no purpose in the narrative and should be removed. With the removal of Veronica’s resistance contacts, their introduction via the salvage mission should be removed from _The Last Stand: Part 2_. 

The flashback of Hunk cooking with his mother should be placed where the flashback of his niece and nephew currently is. The group hug with Lance’s family would remind Hunk of the group hug he shares with his own family in the cooking flashback. Having one Hunk flashback featuring each of his parents highlights the focus on how his two great loves, cooking and engineering - come from spending time with his parents. 

#### Missing Scene 1

In place of Griffin And Keith Significant Look #2 during the scene where Lance and Pidge are reuniting with their loved ones at the Garrison, I believe there would have been a short scene where Colleen thanks him for saving Matt’s life and then gives him a warm welcome home. 

Shiro would have then asked about Adam before the scene transitions to Shiro looking at his ex-boyfriend’s nameplate on the memorial wall. 

This scene would follow up on the fact that the camera focused on Colleen’s reaction when Sam told the Garrison about how Shiro saved Matt’s life in the arena. 

It would also serve as a callback to Pidge’s line in S1E5 _Tears of the Balmera_ that her father’s mission crews were like family, reassuring us that even though we don’t hear or see anything about any living blood relatives, Shiro still has family on Earth. 

_“Dad used to tell me how close he was with his crew members. They were like family.”_

#### Blank Space

The music as the paladins look at the ruins is more appropriate for an episode-ending “wham” moment than recycling the ending of _The Journey Within_ , so the first three minutes of this episode would be better served as the ending of _The Last Stand: Part 2_. Taking that segment out leaves the remainder of Know Your Enemy with a run-time of 15 minutes. 

In order to bring that up to the standard 22 minute run time (Excluding the 1-2 minutes for the opening and the credits), we need to pull footage from what is now S7E10 _Heart of the Lion_ : the recon mission to the Zaiforge Cannon base, and the two briefing scenes before and after the mission. (Veronica’s line about the base info being “cross referenced with resistance intel” would likely be eliminated to maintain continuity with the “all non-Garrison resistance has fallen” narrative). 

The first reason for this is as a point of contrast: the episode opens with the Paladins scouting the city near the Garrison without backup or knowledge of the patrol sentries’ attack patterns, and are quickly overwhelmed before Griffin and Rizavi come to the rescue, and would end with the Paladins performing recon with backup and updated knowledge of Sendak’s occupation, successfully infiltrating the base undetected. 

The second reason is timing: the recon mission taking place at night indicates that from the Paladins’ arrival on Earth to the post-mission briefing take place in the course of one day, with the Paladins summoning their lions being indicated as taking place the following day. 

The third reason is the thematic relevance to the title: Revealing that Sendak plans to destroy Earth with the Zaiforge cannons should be a follow up to Sendak’s AI declaring that any planet that refuses to surrender will be destroyed. 

#### Rearranged Scene 1 

Aside from the flashback of Hunk cooking with mother, the scene where Allura offers Shiro a new prosthetic arm should be the proper ending of Know Your Enemy. Not only does the music feel more appropriate to transition into the end credits, but having Know Your Enemy end with Shiro being offered a new arm when the next episode opens with him waking up from the operation to attach it flows smoother than ending the episode with the paladins deciding on their plan to summon their lions. 

[Music for the briefing scene](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fdrive.google.com%2Fopen%3Fid%3D1dQORWCLBo9hXRkOxAJxGmTyvisTAam7E&t=YmI2N2M5MjliNGZiNzk0MzI1YjJlMzY2Y2NlM2RhYWU5OWI0OTNhZixTbGNOcEJvRg%3D%3D&b=t%3AKtFpFQD-Ve9x5jBjvSMvug&p=https%3A%2F%2Fviolethowler.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F189931578753%2Fpatchwork-quilt-reconstructing-voltron-season-7&m=1)

[Music for the arm conversation](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fdrive.google.com%2Fopen%3Fid%3D1JfgbLDDg1kUmvqDPa4d7pIp8ccZKezO-&t=ZjdhN2E5NzQ1MmQwMjlmNTU1ODA0OGY3MzQzNTI0NDliYTA4NjExMyxTbGNOcEJvRg%3D%3D&b=t%3AKtFpFQD-Ve9x5jBjvSMvug&p=https%3A%2F%2Fviolethowler.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F189931578753%2Fpatchwork-quilt-reconstructing-voltron-season-7&m=1)

#### Summary of Revised Episode

The Paladins scout the city near Galaxy Garrison. Due to their ignorance of the occupation’s patrol patterns, they are quickly overwhelmed and pinned down by Sentries before they are rescued by the arrival of MFE Pilots Griffin and Rizavi. 

The Paladins are then taken back to the Garrison where Lance and Pidge are reunited with their families. Seeing Lance in the middle of a group hug from his family reminds Hunk of group hugs with his own family, and he is distressed to learn that his parents are being held prisoner behind enemy lines. Iverson apologises to Shiro for having him strapped to a table and makes amends with Keith over the latter’s departure from the Garrison. Colleen welcomes Shiro home and proceeds to thank him for saving Matt’s life. Shiro asks about Adam and goes to see his ex-boyfriend’s name on the memorial wall. 

Team Voltron is brought up to speed on the state of Earth’s occupation and the Garrison’s resources. Sanda suggests turning over the lions to Sendak and when the Paladins insist they have a fighting chance she counters with the fact that they don’t have any knowledge of the enemy. Pidge and Allura realize that since Sam copied all of the data from the Castle of Lions, they have access to Sendak’s memories. 

While they get started on finding a way to access them, Keith consoles Hunk over the latter’s worry over his family, telling Hunk how brave he is for going on in spite of his fears. Allura and the Holts begin interrogating Sendak’s memories, learning that when a planet refuses to give up, it is annihilated. When Sendak’s AI reveals this was how Altea was destroyed, it becomes too much for Allura, who leaves the room. 

After briefing the Garrison-Paladin alliance on what they’ve learned from Sendak’s memories, Pidge, Kieth, Griffin, Allura, Kosmo, Lance, Kinkade, Veronica, and Hunk are sent out to perform reconnaissance on the nearest Galran installation. With backup and better knowledge of the patrol sentries’ attack patterns, they manage to evade the base security and discover that Sendak is building Zaiforge cannons. After evading the sentries, they return to base to plan their next move. 

Determining that the best way to stop the Zaiforge cannons from launching is to attack all six cannons at once, in response to Sanda’s concerns about the inability to get to the lions, Shiro reminds the other Paladins that they can use the bonds with their lions to summon them over long distances. The MFE pilots are assigned to fly 4 of the Paladins to the other bases before going to attack the sixth, while Veronica offers to drive Lance to the one nearest to the Garrison.

After the debriefing, Allura meets with Shiro and offers him a new prosthetic arm to replace the one lost in his mind-controlled fight with Keith. 

### Reconstructing Heart of the Lion

#### Summary of the July 2018

Shiro awakens from the surgery to attach his new prosthetic arm. The arm’s power source malfunctions, causing him pain before Allura replaces it with the crystal from her crown. 

After Shiro recovers, Allura and Pidge relay what they’ve learned from Sendak’s memories, cross referencing with Veronica’s intel about 6 Galran installations across Earth. Pidge, Kieth, Griffin, Allura, Kosmo, Lance, Kinkade, Veronica, and Hunk are sent out to perform reconnaissance on the nearest Galran installation. With backup and better knowledge of the patrol sentries’ attack patterns, they manage to evade the base security and discover that Sendak is building Zaiforge cannons. After evading the sentries, they return to base to plan their next move. 

Determining that the best way to stop the Zaiforge cannons from launching is to attack all six cannons at once, in response to Sanda’s concerns about the inability to get to the lions, Shiro reminds the other Paladins that they can use the bonds with their lions to summon them over long distances. The MFE pilots are assigned to fly 4 of the Paladins to the other bases before going to attack the sixth, while Veronica offers to drive Lance to the one nearest to the Garrison.

Allura comes to see Lance off before they depart, urging him to be safe out there. Veronica repeatedly teases Lance about his crush on Allura. The Paladins successfully link up with their lions, although Lance is delayed when Galra fighters attack his and Veronica’s rover and he’s too worried about his sister’s safety to summon his lion until the last moment. The Paladins are too late to stop the launch of the Zaiforge cannons, and Galra warships ambush the paladins and MFE pilots at each base, Admiral Sanda having given up the plan to Sendak in the hopes of sparing Earth. 

The lions chase the Zaiforge cannons into orbit and form Voltron, but the cannons strike using modified version of the Omega Shield from S6E1 to disable Voltron and separate the lions, allowing them to be easily captured while the Garrison looks on in horror. 

#### Breaking Down the Edits

##### Missing Scene 2 

After the scene where Shiro gets his new arm, there should be a shot of Honerva reacting to the events of that scene. The color saturated style used when Shiro begins freaking out has only ever been used to indicate when Haggar attempted to take direct control of him, signalling to the audience that Shiro’s pain in this scene is her doing and foreshadowing what she will do to Luka in S8E1 Launch Date. 

This also follows up with Macidus’ comments that no one has seen Haggar in years, establishing dramatic tension as the audience wonders when Haggar will strike next now that she knows Voltron has returned. With Team Purple Lion’s estimation that the last 7 minutes of _Shadows_ were originally the cliffhanger of _Lion’s Pride: Part 2_ , while the rest of _Shadows_ was split between Part 1 and 2 of _The Last Stand_ , this scene helps to fill in the missing pieces of Season 7’s B-Plot: “Where in the Universe is High Priestess Haggar?” 

  * We are first introduced to the Altean Robeast via flashbacks to the destruction of Olkarion in _Battle Scars_. We don’t know what it is or where it came from. 
  * In _The Ruins_ , Macidus reveals that Haggar has disappeared to parts unknown. 
  * _The Last Stand: Part 1_ and _The Last Stand: Part 2_ shed light on her actions prior to her disappearance, as argued by Team Purple Lion’s Reconstruction videos. 
  * A scene where she attempts to take out Shiro and fails creates suspense as we wonder what Honerva will do with the knowledge that Voltron has returned. 
  * The arrival of the Robeast at the end of _Lion’s Pride: Part 1_ confirms our expectations that she will attack when the Paladins least expect it while also confirming that the attack on Olkarion was her doing. 
  * Having the reveal of the Altean pilot be followed by the last third of _Shadows_ finally answers where she went and what her plan is next, while her communication with Sendak reveals that she had been orchestrating the occupation of Earth the entire time. 



##### Continuity Error 3:

 _The Last Stand: Part 2_ established that only a small portion of the Particle Barrier needs to be deactivated in order to allow the MFE fighters to take off, and shutting the entire barrier down in what is now _S7E11 Trial by Fire_ was what prompted Sendak to start attacking the Garrison. Yet in the July 2018 version of _Heart of the Lion_ , the entire barrier is shutting down with none of the characters displaying any fear that Sendak will attack. 

  


#### Corrections for Heart of the Lion 

All of the scenes with the fully deactivated particle barrier need to be removed. I’m sorry, Allurance fans, but that includes the scene where she goes to see him off because that’s when the barrier is shown coming down. Because of its in the middle of a trio of scenes focused on them and removing it disrupts the flow, that means the other two shots of them have to be taken out as well. More on this later. 

#### Reused Footage 2:

The opening shots of what is now _Trial by Fire_ are repeated from the ending of _Heart of the Lion_. The only examples of shots being repeated across multiple episodes were to establish to the audience that either A) the new season was beginning immediately where the cliffhanger of the previous one left off (S2E1), or that a set of episodes was occurring simultaneously (S2E2, S2E11). While the ending of the July 2018 version of _Trial by Fire_ is a fairly strong cliffhanger, it was not the end of the season. And since _Trial by Fire_ was not taking place simultaneously with _Heart of the Lion_ , there is no narrative reason for these shots to be repeated. 

[The ending of Heart of the Lion](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fdrive.google.com%2Fopen%3Fid%3D1Y5aiIzNjM2DuaY6iFyA0n_Nqmm3hxrJU&t=MTY2YzAyOTFiZjU4ZDFjZDZmZDJjNzVjY2EzYzMxYzBmOTM3ZGY1ZSxTbGNOcEJvRg%3D%3D&b=t%3AKtFpFQD-Ve9x5jBjvSMvug&p=https%3A%2F%2Fviolethowler.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F189931578753%2Fpatchwork-quilt-reconstructing-voltron-season-7&m=1)

[The opening of Trial by Fire](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fdrive.google.com%2Fopen%3Fid%3D1AJgpT7gZQUjjMa1Ieq_QjOSR5iEk-otP&t=MTdhMmUyZWIxNGRmNmE1NGEyNWNkZDRlYzc5MTBmZWFhYjQ5ZGQzOSxTbGNOcEJvRg%3D%3D&b=t%3AKtFpFQD-Ve9x5jBjvSMvug&p=https%3A%2F%2Fviolethowler.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F189931578753%2Fpatchwork-quilt-reconstructing-voltron-season-7&m=1)

[Merged Footage ](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fdrive.google.com%2Ffile%2Fd%2F1VLJ3ZWoFj5x3LPgh33f5zNU8EUrNbi8d%2Fview%3Fusp%3Dsharing&t=ZDEzMTQ5MzVkYzFhNGU0OTc1MjlkNGFiMDYxZWFmYjc1Y2MzNGI4OCxTbGNOcEJvRg%3D%3D&b=t%3AKtFpFQD-Ve9x5jBjvSMvug&p=https%3A%2F%2Fviolethowler.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F189931578753%2Fpatchwork-quilt-reconstructing-voltron-season-7&m=1)

#### Blank Space: 

With the briefing scenes and recon mission moved to _Know Your Enemy_ and the scenes with the Particle Barrier down cut out, that least just under 11 minutes of footage in _Heart of the Lion_. But in order to determine which parts of _Trial by Fire_ can be incorporated into _Heart of the Lion_ , we need to first cut out all of the continuity errors and plot inconsistencies in _Trial by Fire_. As I mentioned in my “Cutting and Padding” meta, _Trial by Fire_ did not exist before the editing of Season 7. Now, I will go into detail on how. 

### Dismantling Trial by Fire

#### Summary of the July 2018 episode

With the Paladins captured, Shiro demands to know what weapons the Garrison has available. With Sendak’s fleet out of range and the MFEs back at the Garrison recharging, Shiro takes charge and focuses their energy on getting the Atlas up and running. 

Sendak reneges on his deal with Sanda and throws her in the brig with the Paladins before ordering his fleet to move the Zaiforge cannons into position. Coran and Sam toss ideas back and forth on how to power the Atlas, while the Zaiforge cannons return to orbit. When Veronica confirms that the cannons are going to converge over the Garrison’s coordinates, Sam and Coran come up with a plan to divert power from the Garrison’s particle barrier in order to power the Atlas. The entire Garrison is evacuated while the MFEs prepare for takeoff to hold Sendak’s fleet at bay. 

Sendak notices the deactivation of the particle barrier and orders a full scale attack on the Garrison. As Galra warships bombard the base, the MFE fighters launch to keep the fleet occupied while the Atlas prepares for launch. Once the ship is ready, the hangar bay doors open. As the Atlas attempts to lift off, the power from the particle barrier proves insufficient, and the ship drops back into its docking bay. 

The MFEs easily evade cannon fire from the Galra fleet, but more cruisers arrive with enemy reinforcements. As Sendak’s forces continue to fire on the Garrison, Sam laments the ship’s uselessness. When Sam mentions it would take the power of a supermassive black hole to get the ship off the ground, Coran realizes that they can use the compressed diamond made from the remains of the Castle of Lions in S6E7 to power the ship. 

Another wave of Galra reinforcements arrives as the Atlas prepares for lift off. Shiro starts giving orders as the MFEs clear the air above the hangar as the bay doors open.The MFE quadron hits Sendak’s command ship with an EMP as the Atlas takes to the sky. 

Hepta reports the lack of response to the fleet, and Sendak orders his lieutenant to bring them around and charge their ion cannons. Veronica reports that Sendak is preparing to attack from above. When the Atlas’ weapons come online, Shiro locks on to one of the Galra cruisers in the fleet and destroys it in a single shot. 

The shockwave alerts the Paladins to the fact that the Atlas has been launched. As Sendak’s fleet surrounds the Atlas, the Paladins attempt to use their bonds with the lions to pilot them remotely. As the lions break free from the hangar, Sendak dispatches Lieutenant Hepta to kill the Paladins. While the Paladins help turn the tide in favor of the Atlas, Admiral Sanda cons her way out of her cell and initiates a firefight with Hepta in order to stall for time. Sanda is mortally wounded, but before Hepta can kill the Paladins, they fly the lions through the ship, killing Hepta in the process. 

With the power knocked out in the brig, the Paladins escape from their cells. As she dies, Keith promises Sanda that they will do what she couldn’t and save Earth. 

#### Breaking Down the Edits

##### Continuity Error 4: 

At the end of the edited version of Heart of the Lion, the MFEs were under attack at the 6th Zaiforge Launch Base at the same time that the Paladins were flying into orbit to stop the Zaiforge Cannons. Going by Hunk’s comment about the distance between the city and the Garrison, it should have taken the MFE Pilots at minimum 30 minutes to get back to the Garrison, but at the beginning of Trial by Fire they’ve somehow already teleported back even though less than that time has passed in-universe. 

##### Continuity Error 5: 

_Trial by Fire_ opens with the Zaiforge cannons already in orbit firing on Voltron. Just a few minutes later, the cannons have teleported off screen back into Earth’s atmosphere where they are shown hovering over the launch bases flying _back_ into orbit. 

  


##### Continuity Error 6: 

The hangar bay doors for the Atlas are shown opening twice.

  


##### Continuity Error 7: 

The MFE pilots launch an EMP at a Galra Warship. Sendak and Hepta are shown reacting to the ship losing power, but the Paladins are not affected. 

#### Corrections

Eliminate the shot of the Zaiforge cannons going into orbit. 

Cut out all MFE scenes and edit out dialogue that acts like they’re already back. 

Remove the second shot of the Atlas hangar opening and move the first one to where the second was is in the July 2018 version of Trial by Fire. 

#### Summary of the Revised and Combined Episode

Shiro awakens from the surgery to attach his new prosthetic arm. The arm’s power source malfunctions, causing him pain before Allura replaces it with the crystal from her crown. Through the link she used in S6E4 Honerva now knows that Voltron has returned. 

The Paladins and MFEs depart that morning to link up with the Lions. Lance is delayed when Galra fighters attack his and Veronica’s rover and he’s too worried about his sister’s safety to summon his lion until the last moment. The Paladins successfully link up with their lions but are too late to stop the launch of the Zaiforge cannons. Galra warships ambush the paladins and MFE pilots at each base, Admiral Sanda having given up the plan to Sendak in the hopes of sparing Earth. 

The lions chase the Zaiforge cannons into orbit and form Voltron, but the cannons strike using modified version of the Omega Shield from S6E1 to disable Voltron and separate the lions, allowing them to be easily captured while the Garrison looks on in horror. Shiro demands to know what weapons the Garrison has available, and on being reminded that the fleet is out of range, Shiro takes charge and focuses their energy on getting the Atlas up and running. 

Sendak reneges on his deal with Sanda and throws her in the brig with the Paladins before ordering his fleet to move the Zaiforge cannons into position. When Veronica confirms that the cannons are going to converge over the Garrison’s coordinates, Sam and Coran come up with a plan to divert power from the Garrison’s particle barrier in order to power the Atlas. The entire Garrison is evacuated aboard the Atlas before Sam deactivates the barrier. 

Sendak notices the deactivation of the particle barrier and orders a full scale attack on the Garrison. The Atlas attempts to lift off, but the power from the particle barrier proves insufficient, and the ship drops back into its docking bay. When Sam mentions it would take the power of a supermassive black hole to get the ship off the ground, Coran realizes that they can use the compressed diamond made from the remains of the Castle of Lions in S6E7 to power the ship

As the ship takes off, Sendak orders his fleet to target the Atlas and charge their ion cannons. When the Atlas’ weapons come online, Shiro locks on to one of the cruisers in Sendak’s fleet and destroys it in a single shot. 

The shockwave alerts the Paladins to the fact that the Atlas has been launched. As Sendak’s fleet surrounds the Atlas, the Paladins attempt to use their bonds with the lions to pilot them remotely. As the lions break free from the hangar, Sendak dispatches Lieutenant Hepta to kill the Paladins. While the Paladins help turn the tide in favor of the Atlas, Admiral Sanda cons her way out of her cell and initiates a firefight with Hepta in order to stall for time. Sanda is mortally wounded, but before Hepta can kill the Paladins, they fly the lions through the ship, killing Hepta in the process. 

With the power knocked out in the brig, the Paladins escape from their cells. As she dies, Keith promises Sanda that they will do what she couldn’t and save Earth.

* * *

As you can see, the subplots surrounding the MFE pilots in Know Your Enemy and Trial by Fire create continuity errors that disrupt the flow of the narrative, and spread out what should have been two episodes with clear, strong pacing into a sluggish mess that spreads out over 3 episodes. 


End file.
